COMM 206 Chapter Notes - Chapter Althusser ISAs: Louis Althusser, Proletariat, Class Conflict
Document Summary
Isa ideological state apparatus: versus rsa (repressive state apparatus, according to marxism, state apparatus = gov, admin, army, police, courts, prison = repressive state apparatus functions by violence. Institutions as isas: religious (cid:894)differe(cid:374)t (cid:862)(cid:272)hur(cid:272)hes(cid:863)(cid:895, educational (cid:894)syste(cid:373) of pu(cid:271)li(cid:272) a(cid:374)d pri(cid:448)ate (cid:862)s(cid:272)hools(cid:863)(cid:895, family, legal, political (including different parties, trade-union, communications (press, radio, tv, cultural (literature, arts, sports) Difference between isa and repressive: there"s one repressive sa, but a plurality of isas, rsa = public large part of isa is private (e. g. churches, parties, trade unions, families, schools, newspapers, cultural ventures, etc. , main difference. Rsa: mainly by repression; secondarily by ideology (e. g army, police) Isa: mainly by ideology; secondarily by repression (e. g. school uses expulsion to discipline; cultural isa censors) What unifies the isas diversity: they"re al(cid:449)ays i(cid:374)here(cid:374)tly fu(cid:374)(cid:272)tio(cid:374)i(cid:374)g beneath the ruling ideology (cid:862)ruli(cid:374)g (cid:272)lass(cid:863) (cid:272)o(cid:374)trols repressive state apparatus. The ideology of the ruling class is realized in the isa.
